With all the surprise of a blue light special at K-Mart, Texas A&M confirmed two weeks of speculation today by sending its formal notification to the Big 12 of its intent to explore other avenues of conference membership. While the unofficial, behind-the-scenes wheels continue to churn, this is the first official, legal step that makes the move that much closer to reality.
This is going to play out in myriad ugly ways. Chip Brown at Orangebloods reports that Texas has made it clear they'll make no special effort to schedule A&M as a non-conference opponent should he Ags bolt, possibly pursuing Notre Dame as a Thanksgiving replacement. That Texas would so broadly reach for the Irish tells me that independence is on the Horns mind, or perhaps even grander things - an entirely new conference anchored by Texas and Notre Dame, which could take startling new directions.
No matter how the details shake out, there will be hurt feelings that will last across generations, and fans of 2011 will be the ones to see how realignment, power consolidation, and money have cost the game of college football yet another great rivalry. Just as the Big 12 ended Oklahoma Nebraska, the death of the Big 12 will likely end Texas-Texas A&M. The only question now, sadly, is what's next?
Showing posts with label aggies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label aggies. Show all posts
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Sunday, August 14, 2011
And then the SEC tells A&M...."Never mind...."
Update Monday, 6:54 AM CDT: Well, the saga continues...Multiple reports, spearheaded by Chris Brown at Orangebloods.com, indicate that yesterday's announcement by the SEC "reaffirming" their satisfaction with their current 12-team alignment, is posturing, and A&M's move is still going to happen.
Supposedly the announcement will come within the next 20 days, with yesterday's announcement giving SEC some public, "legal" distance from A&M's plans to defect from the Big 12. Some even suggest that an announcement from A&M that they will leave the Big 12, even without an existing formal invitation from another conference, may take place.
At this point, all we can do is watch and wait. - David
With all the diplomatic aplomb of an ill-timed belch, SEC leadership groin-kicked Texas A&M late this afternoon, voting not to extend the Aggies their heavily expected invitation to bolt the Big 12 and join the SEC.
Now, with A&M spending the weekend poising itself to make the grand announcement of their own independence from their hated Austin rivals and the broader Big 12 in general, A&M has the unenviable task of walking back home to the conference it hates, hat in hand, tail between its legs, trying to figure out a way to mend fences and reconstruct bridges it had spent the last week burning.
What does the SEC's sudden spurning of A&M's advances really suggest? Just as I suggested when this story broke, the SEC's quiet action in the midst of A&M's chest thumping was cause enough for A&M to be very careful. It was simple logic that the Aggies weren't going to be invited alone, implying another team would have to be prepared to drop the hammer and keep the SEC's competitive balance at 14 schools. That meant that it was entirely possible A&M was not the prime target in the SEC's scouting efforts - that, in reality, another team was targeted, and A&M was the team to balance. Today's blow to the head tells me that negotiations with the SEC's true intended fell through, and A&M was no longer needed.
In effect, A&M was played, played savagely, in an increasingly brutal game of take-no-prisoners conference management. The SEC knew that A&M was unhappy in the Big 12, unhappy with its perpetually second-tier status nationally, unhappy with the fact that reality of its program has never matched the ego of its fans. And the SEC took that unhappiness, slid it in its hip pocket, and played the Ags like a violin when the glimmer of hope for the team the SEC really wanted arose, then faded.
Who did the SEC really want? I obviously don't know for a fact, but its easy for me to speculate. And I speculate that, somehow, Mike Slive and the SEC found out that Florida State, if given half a chance, would join the SEC tribe and deliver one of college football's great rivalries - Florida-Florida State. Somewhere, in the midst of the last week, FSU either had change of heart, or communicated they were never really interested in the first place. Who knows. In the end, the SEC is unchanged, the Big 12 continues to persist.
And Texas A&M is still very, very unhappy.
Supposedly the announcement will come within the next 20 days, with yesterday's announcement giving SEC some public, "legal" distance from A&M's plans to defect from the Big 12. Some even suggest that an announcement from A&M that they will leave the Big 12, even without an existing formal invitation from another conference, may take place.
At this point, all we can do is watch and wait. - David
With all the diplomatic aplomb of an ill-timed belch, SEC leadership groin-kicked Texas A&M late this afternoon, voting not to extend the Aggies their heavily expected invitation to bolt the Big 12 and join the SEC.
Now, with A&M spending the weekend poising itself to make the grand announcement of their own independence from their hated Austin rivals and the broader Big 12 in general, A&M has the unenviable task of walking back home to the conference it hates, hat in hand, tail between its legs, trying to figure out a way to mend fences and reconstruct bridges it had spent the last week burning.
What does the SEC's sudden spurning of A&M's advances really suggest? Just as I suggested when this story broke, the SEC's quiet action in the midst of A&M's chest thumping was cause enough for A&M to be very careful. It was simple logic that the Aggies weren't going to be invited alone, implying another team would have to be prepared to drop the hammer and keep the SEC's competitive balance at 14 schools. That meant that it was entirely possible A&M was not the prime target in the SEC's scouting efforts - that, in reality, another team was targeted, and A&M was the team to balance. Today's blow to the head tells me that negotiations with the SEC's true intended fell through, and A&M was no longer needed.
In effect, A&M was played, played savagely, in an increasingly brutal game of take-no-prisoners conference management. The SEC knew that A&M was unhappy in the Big 12, unhappy with its perpetually second-tier status nationally, unhappy with the fact that reality of its program has never matched the ego of its fans. And the SEC took that unhappiness, slid it in its hip pocket, and played the Ags like a violin when the glimmer of hope for the team the SEC really wanted arose, then faded.
Who did the SEC really want? I obviously don't know for a fact, but its easy for me to speculate. And I speculate that, somehow, Mike Slive and the SEC found out that Florida State, if given half a chance, would join the SEC tribe and deliver one of college football's great rivalries - Florida-Florida State. Somewhere, in the midst of the last week, FSU either had change of heart, or communicated they were never really interested in the first place. Who knows. In the end, the SEC is unchanged, the Big 12 continues to persist.
And Texas A&M is still very, very unhappy.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Texas A&M to the SEC - Update
Update @ 9:13 PM CST: Sporting News is reporting that stories of A&M joining the SEC are "just not true." However, considering the other stories that have come out tonight, this "high ranking SEC" statement is consistent with what we've known - that there cannot be a formal announcement until August 22.
Moreover, the SN story quoted their source as saying that various other leaders within the conference must be contacted before a formal invitation could be extended, which makes perfect sense given the 11 days between now and the reported August 22 announcement date.
It's all still fluid, and could still go by the boards, but right now I still stand on the side of A&M leaving. I keep wondering if we're going to hear rumors about contingency plans for OU, Texas, and the rest of the "Not Even Close to 12" should the A&M defection happen. Stay tuned.
Update @ 8:03 PM CST: Lots of media rumors and stories, hard to separate original reporting from reports-on-other reports. Newest source of fairly reliable information is coming from Orangebloods.com, link here, which says that A&M regents will vote on an SEC membership issue on August 22, and nothing official can be discussed before then.
Now, obviously, all of this is very fluid, and tons of hype is flowing everywhere, so all of this is subject to change, but the rumbling continue to suggest that A&M really is going to the SEC.
Update @ 7:47 PM CST: According to the Texas A&M Rivals site, A&M is going to the SEC!!! I must admit that I'm stunned. Read their story here. If this proves true, it almost certainly spells the end of what's left of the Big 12, and who knows where the dominoes will fall. Only time will tell!!!
Rumors on the Internet are like flies around the tail of a Texas horse - frequent, annoying, and generally swatted away.
Yet one such rumor - that of Texas A&M moving to the SEC - was promoted to full-fledged credible gossip when A&M president R. Bowen Loftin issued a curious statement pledging that he will always "look after" the best interests of the University.
You can read the entirety of the quote here.
Rumors of A&M to the SEC started last year as talks of a mass migration of teams from the Big 12 to the Pac 10 gained steam. Just as the move seemed an inevitability, an eleventh-hour deal among "interested parties" funneled more revenue to the conference and putting the kibosh on the move. Now the talks are, supposedly, starting up again.
There's only one problem. The SEC isn't going to accept just one team. If the SEC is serious about inviting A&M, it makes sense they're just as serious about inviting another, as yet unnamed school to compliment the Aggies.
The question is simple: What other school is in the SEC's gunsites? The only two high-profile programs that would seem likely candidates from the remnants of the erstwhile Big 12 would be Texas and Oklahoma; yet Texas with its new Longhorn Network hardly seems a fit for the SEC and its new ESPN contract. Oklahoma could be a legitimate second candidate, but chances are the Sooners would not move without a package deal including Oklahoma State.
The bigger fish is out there. Common sense says it has to be, with A&M serving only as the lure. That means that, as the Aggies deal with the SEC, they would do well to tread very, very cautiously. Why? If the second team on the SEC's agenda falls through, prospective talks with the Aggies could end abruptly, leaving A&M nowhere to go but back to league it, apparently, desperately wants to leave.
Let the rumors fly.
Update: Some media outlets have pointed out that the ONLY place from which the A&M-to-the-SEC rumors seem to be originating is College Station. There's been no vibe or rumor from any SEC outlets or sources, which means this may all be nothing more than disgruntled saber rattling by the Aggies....and, as of 5:30pm CST Thursday, College Station continues to be the only place other than the media talking this issue...
Moreover, the SN story quoted their source as saying that various other leaders within the conference must be contacted before a formal invitation could be extended, which makes perfect sense given the 11 days between now and the reported August 22 announcement date.
It's all still fluid, and could still go by the boards, but right now I still stand on the side of A&M leaving. I keep wondering if we're going to hear rumors about contingency plans for OU, Texas, and the rest of the "Not Even Close to 12" should the A&M defection happen. Stay tuned.
Update @ 8:03 PM CST: Lots of media rumors and stories, hard to separate original reporting from reports-on-other reports. Newest source of fairly reliable information is coming from Orangebloods.com, link here, which says that A&M regents will vote on an SEC membership issue on August 22, and nothing official can be discussed before then.
Now, obviously, all of this is very fluid, and tons of hype is flowing everywhere, so all of this is subject to change, but the rumbling continue to suggest that A&M really is going to the SEC.
Update @ 7:47 PM CST: According to the Texas A&M Rivals site, A&M is going to the SEC!!! I must admit that I'm stunned. Read their story here. If this proves true, it almost certainly spells the end of what's left of the Big 12, and who knows where the dominoes will fall. Only time will tell!!!
Rumors on the Internet are like flies around the tail of a Texas horse - frequent, annoying, and generally swatted away.
Yet one such rumor - that of Texas A&M moving to the SEC - was promoted to full-fledged credible gossip when A&M president R. Bowen Loftin issued a curious statement pledging that he will always "look after" the best interests of the University.
You can read the entirety of the quote here.
Rumors of A&M to the SEC started last year as talks of a mass migration of teams from the Big 12 to the Pac 10 gained steam. Just as the move seemed an inevitability, an eleventh-hour deal among "interested parties" funneled more revenue to the conference and putting the kibosh on the move. Now the talks are, supposedly, starting up again.
There's only one problem. The SEC isn't going to accept just one team. If the SEC is serious about inviting A&M, it makes sense they're just as serious about inviting another, as yet unnamed school to compliment the Aggies.
The question is simple: What other school is in the SEC's gunsites? The only two high-profile programs that would seem likely candidates from the remnants of the erstwhile Big 12 would be Texas and Oklahoma; yet Texas with its new Longhorn Network hardly seems a fit for the SEC and its new ESPN contract. Oklahoma could be a legitimate second candidate, but chances are the Sooners would not move without a package deal including Oklahoma State.
The bigger fish is out there. Common sense says it has to be, with A&M serving only as the lure. That means that, as the Aggies deal with the SEC, they would do well to tread very, very cautiously. Why? If the second team on the SEC's agenda falls through, prospective talks with the Aggies could end abruptly, leaving A&M nowhere to go but back to league it, apparently, desperately wants to leave.
Let the rumors fly.
Update: Some media outlets have pointed out that the ONLY place from which the A&M-to-the-SEC rumors seem to be originating is College Station. There's been no vibe or rumor from any SEC outlets or sources, which means this may all be nothing more than disgruntled saber rattling by the Aggies....and, as of 5:30pm CST Thursday, College Station continues to be the only place other than the media talking this issue...
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